Common spring cleaning mistakes

In terms of work areas, clean and decluttered areas do wonders for our overall productivity.  In terms of the physical space that gets freed up when we declutter but we also get mental space without so much visual stimuli for our brains to assimilate. When we actually care for our work environment, we by extension are caring for ourselves.

With the hectic way in which we live our lives, most of us only really have time for a clear out once per year.  With an opportunity to spring clean only once per year, we must get it right, so I’ve written a list of mistakes commonly made when spring cleaning.

Don’t let your hoover bag get more than half full….

I thought I’d kick off with this nugget of wisdom…. Believe it when I say that a hoover bag full of bacteria filled dust (dust – which in part is dead skin cells!) doesn’t smell that nice! So emptying or even putting a new hoover bag in will not only reduce the amount of bacteria and dust in your home, but will also get rid of funky odours, by simply letting the hoover do what it is supposed to do – suck dirt, bacteria and allergens out of your home. In fact, emptying your bag actually allows more air to circulate through your machine which actually enhance the suction with in your machine.

When having a ‘sort out’ don’t make a ‘later’ pile….

 When having your spring clean, there is a no better time to de-clutter, throw things out that are either broken or we don’t even particularly like. 

In our culture, owning things sometimes makes us feel more affluent, and in a way enhances our well being. I’m sure everyone knows someone who is on the ‘scale’ of collecting random belongings, or collecting stuff that just sits there and either gathers dust or needs to be dusted.  Dare I say it on the ‘hoarders scale’. Sometimes, it can be  really difficult to make peace with getting rid of that ornament with the broken leg or the pair of shoes or coat that doesn’t actually fit anymore?

This is why when having a ‘sort out’ having a ‘sort later’ pile is an absolute recipe for disaster.  Sleeping on this dilemma, and basically moving junk from one place to another isn’t going to de-clutter any area, its simply moving it from one place to another. In this instance, if your unsure about whether you really need to keep this item, just put in the donate or the rubbish pile. Go to bed and then in the morning if you do have an overwhelming desire to rescue it, then you can save it, but if not just keep it where you last placed it.

Don’t use oven cleaner on your hob….

Here at Astral we have some pretty powerful chemicals, and our oven cleaner range is the absolute best.  We have the Evans Oven  Cleaner, which is delivered by trigger, and has a foaming trigger so the caustic liquid is delivered as a foam that sticks to the side.  We also have a Clinging Foaming Oven Cleaner by Selden Research which is equally as good, and this one is also produced as a foam and sticks to the sides of ovens without sliding down.  These oven cleaners are the best, and are very very caustic (high in acid) and actually melt the baked on food and grease off the side of your oven with hardly any abrasion. This makes cleaning the oven a breeze. Now when you are cleaning your hob, the hob gets a different experience all together of food being introduced to it.  It is hardy ever baked on, and if you put oven cleaner on your hob, you may unintentionally lift the coating on your hob or even remove all of the handy little diagrams that tell you which ring correlates to which knob – I have personally done this and its annoying.  Instead use Evans Lift, which is still a lighter duty degreaser, but not as ferocious as Oven Cleaner.

Don’t mix your own chemicals…..

The majority of the population are not chemists, so mixing your own chemicals and coming up with your own concoctions is very dangerous.  You can create toxic gases from certain chemicals, so if you are mixing vinegar and bleach for example – this will create a toxic gas.  Manufacturing of chemicals is a science, and I would advocate that we simply leave it up to the scientists, instead of thinking that an  unqualified lay person can do a better job.

I often plan my spring clean, and think of the rooms I want to cover and the areas I would do and in which order.  I’m a planner, and actually my spring cleans are usually broken down by floors in my house.  One week I’ll do downstairs and another I’ll do upstairs. I usually do two spring cleans per year, one at spring, and one just before Christmas (see here for the last blog I did about this!)

For all of your cleaning needs and supplies, you can get everything you need from us at www.astralhygiene.co.uk

Advice and assistance is always free at Astral so give us a call if your unsure about anything!